Illustration as a career

The things that I found will make this sort of daunting task easier are:

1 - write down everything you know about the task, then go read about it. Set a time limit of a few hours to confirm that you have the right sort of high level info and don't dig too deep yet.

2 - break this into major steps. Keep it logical and goal oriented if possible. Work out when each part of this would need to be complete.

3 - each of these tasks becomes a project in its own right so break these down into much more managable sub tasks that you can do in a few hours or a day.

4 - work out the dependencies of the tasks - ie which have to be completed before the next ones can be done. Once done, create an order in which they can be done.

5 - work out a time line in which these can be performed - you need to take into account the deadlines of step 2 above and always add as much spare time as you can since there will ALWAYS be delays or over-runs.

6 - print this timeline and stick it on the wall. Do the same for the task list so you can see the tasks crossed off as you go. This helps build a sense of progress.

7 - forget about the big picture and only worry about the individual tasks and keeping your deadlines. Re-visit the big picture once a week or few weeks to make sure you are all on track and allow for any upcoming events that may add delays - and schedule the work to allow fo this.

8 - celebrate the small victories. Each week allow a treat (meal out, go to cinema or whatever) to build a positive feedback on sticking with the plan.

9 - you will get to the end in no time.

This is pretty much what I've been doing for the last few decades as a project manager so can confirm it works for an autist with occasional issues with focus

I think it comes from the old question - "how does one eat a whale"? The answer is of course "one bite at a time"...

Thank you, that is helpful. I find it hard to not get overwhelmed by thinking about a daunting task or situation so I should try working more in steps. Also yes, I am hoping to go back to therapy- hopefully an ASD specialist- so I can spend this year improving my mental health so I can have a clear view of what I want for my future.

thanks for taking the time to write 

Ladybug said:

I can’t imagine myself functioning at all in most situations at this point.

Have you tried getting a therapist who has experience with autism? I found this very useful for working through techniques for dealing with stressful situations as well as a bunch of other personal stuff. They may well be able to help you find a way to focus that works for you.

It isn't that cheap - about £50/hour but I only used it once a fortnight so was less of a drag.

If you can try this it may well build to confidence to go and do your intended course and follow your dreams - assuming that illustration if your dream of course...

I don't do illustration myself but do hire them - my ex was a fashion designer and we used to hire them at product development stage to create illustrations of the outfits for the factory to use when assessing the finished product.

I could to the technical spec for the factory to use but for them to check the grading of sizes was working then we would insist of seeing each size modelled to compate to the vision of the design so we could tweak it to look better if necessary. It could all be done by video link this way and the factory could get a head start using the illustrations.

At some point I will also be using an illustrator for a kids book I'm writing so I will need to find someone who can draw in the style I'm looking for - so portfolios will be reviewed to select someone in tune with my vision.

Sorry if that seems a bit random but I wanted to point out what I hire freelance illustrators for and what we expect from them.

This is typically a set price for an agreed number of images and delivered in an agreed time window. I ask for up to 15% to be re-done if I don't like a detail or if something was lost in translation.

Finding one was almost always by recommendation but a search online shows a lot of online job portals for illustration services ( upwork.com seems to have the most) so you will need to have a degree of confidence that you can deliver projects on time to be able to compete.

You will also need to develop negotiating skills to avoid clients demaning unreasonable deadlines or prices with you - I hope the course at uni teaches this, but if not it is worth learning yourself.

At the end of the day the core skills are having an ability that people are willing to pay for, advertising it where they can find you, negotiating reasonable terms for the deals and being able to do what you agreed.

These are skills in any career more or less, so there is going to be this hill to climb if you want to be something more than a supermarket cashier, so don't let it worry you - just treat it like a series of steps to take the same as if you are preparing for a holiday (get suitcase, plan packing, get phrase book, practice the language phrases for your destination, organise currency etc).

You will get there much more easily if you can break it down into manageable tasks and just get stuck into them one at a time, plus you get motivation from seeing all the tasks crossed off the list.

Sorry to ramble on, but that's what happens when you ask for advice ;)

I am doing illustration at Uni, I've also made some self publications and done some freelance, my DMs are open to everyone not just friends if you'd like to ask about it at all in a DM.